The National MCAA Update

Volume 5, Number 13, March 27, 2000

2001 CONVENTION NEWS –Plans for next year’s convention – 2001: A Hawaiian Odyssey – are already being formalized.  You can expect to see a preliminary registration form for the Maui convention in June. The MCAA Education Committee will be meeting April 2-3 to discuss educational sessions and speakers for the convention. Incidentally, the complete brochure for the upcoming Boston 2000 Mid Year Education Conference will be mailed the first week of April. For more information please contact Cynthia Buffington (cbuffington@mcaa.org).

NEW STUDENT CHAPTERS -MCAA has two new student chapters, one in Virginia and one in Georgia. The MCA of Metropolitan Washington sponsors the Mechanical Contractors of Virginia Tech student chapter. Southern Polytechnic State University’s Student Chapter of Specialty Contracting (Mechanical/Electrical) is sponsored by the MCA of Georgia. MCAA President Ron Pearson said, “Student chapters provide an exceptional platform for building positive relationships among students, faculty, MCAA members, and our local associations. I believe these strong bonds will pay dividends for our industry in the near future and, certainly, beyond.” Pearson also expressed his gratitude to the local MCA Boards and Execs whose hard work made these new student chapters possible. Contact Dennis Langley (dlangley@mcaa.org) for further details.

FOUND - PROJECT HOME AGAIN - Four children who are part of MSCA's Project Home Again missing children poster program have been found. "FOUND" stickers will be sent to contractors displaying posters of Machel Al-Omary, Alan Collins, and Harriet and Sarah Hughes. Contact Adrienne Breedlove (abreedlove@mcaa.org) for more information about this MSCA community service program.

DIRECTIONS TO MCAA ONLINE - If you’re planning a trip to the Washington, DC area (for MCAA business or otherwise) and you’re curious about where MCAA’s national offices are located, visit our web site for directions from anywhere in the country at http://www.mcaa.org/maps.cfm.

MAGAZINE CHOICES AND INTERNET POLICY – Those are two of the topics discussed in the next issue of the MCAA TechNews which will be published this week. This e-mail newsletter will present a sample Internet-use policy for your business as well as provide sources for further information about the human resources questions that arise from allowing employees access to the Internet while at work. Other topics for this issue include a discussion on the “best” computer magazines and a web site that features some of the best utility software that can protect your computing environment. MCAA TechNews is available for members-only by e-mail subscription at the following web address: http://www.mcaa.org/TechNews.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION - Anti-Prevailing Wage Opponents Nix School Construction Measure -The House Ways and Means Committee voted down a school construction bond measure attached to an education savings account bill on March 22. The measure, proposed by Reps. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and Charles Rangel (D-NY), would have required that employees building schools funded with the bonds be paid the prevailing wage. The measure was defeated after some committee members charged that the prevailing wage requirement would greatly increase the price of construction. MCAA and its allies in the Mechanical/Electrical/Sheet Metal Alliance plan to meet with lawmakers to educate them on the prevailing wage and press for a revote on the measure. . .  Contractors Ready to Visit Capitol Hill - The Mechanical/Electrical/Sheet Metal Alliance 2000 National Issues Conference, scheduled for April 3-5 in Washington, DC, is close at hand. You can attend this year’s conference, the Campaign for Quality Construction, by registering online at http://www.mcaa.org/conference/canic/.

DATA AND STATISTICS - The Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) for urban wage earners and clerical workers increased 0.5% in February, according to a March 17, 2000, Bureau of Labor Statistics news release. For the 12-month period ending in February 2000, the CPI-W annual rate of increase is 3.3%. From January 2000 to February 2000, medical care costs increased 0.4%; the compound annual rate of increase for medical care costs for the 12-month period ending in February 2000 is 3.8%.